


Tiny Blessings

by applepail



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU - Daycare, Daycare, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-29
Updated: 2013-05-29
Packaged: 2017-12-13 09:11:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/822563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/applepail/pseuds/applepail
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who doesn't love kids?</p>
<p>Michael, Lucifer, Castiel, and Gabriel all run a family-owned and operated daycare center together, Michael and Lucifer with the morning shift and Castiel and Gabriel in the afternoon. But taking care of twelve rowdy toddlers takes a lot of work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tiny Blessings

“Come _on_!” Michael urged impatiently. “If we show up late, we’re gonna be late setting up, and it’s gonna throw off the whole schedule!”

“We’re not that late, Mikey, cool your jets,” Lucifer said, glancing away from the road to smirk at his older brother.

“Eyes on the road!”

“What? Think we’re gonna crash? Mikey, look!” Lucifer taunted, taking his hands off the steering wheel. “No hands!”

“You’re gonna _kill_ us!!”

Lucifer’s hands returned to their place on the wheel. “If you hate the way I drive so much, drive yourself.”

“It’s not my fault it’s wrecked, okay? _He_ hit _me_ , got it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lucifer sneered. “You could always take a bus.”

“Buses are disgusting, Lucifer,” Michael groaned, glaring out the passenger side window. “I would never board one of those four-wheels trash heaps of my own free will.”

“You know what your problem is, Mikey? You’re too stuck up.”

“I am not--” Michael stopped, mid-sentence as the daycare came into view. “Kate’s already here! I told you we’d be late! I told you!!”

Kate Milligan was always early. She was a loving, doting mother, but she was almost always stuck at work, so Adam was always here earlier than everyone else.

As soon as Lucifer had parked the car, Michael was out and jogging towards Kate, panting apologies.

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Milligan, I am. We were running a tad late, as you see. I hope we didn’t keep you waiting...”

“No, actually, we just got here--”

“Mi’cha!” Came a the excited squeal of a small child. Adam’s face poked out from behind his mother’s legs, grinning widely. “Mornin’, Mi’cha!”

Michael smiled and crouched down to Adam’s eye-level. “Good morning, Adam.”

Michael heard Lucifer’s snickering from behind him and tried to ignore it.

Adam had very quickly taken to Michael, despite barely being able to pronounce his name yet. He followed Michael everywhere, was always asking him to play, and always showed off whatever recent achievement of his to Michael. 

“I’m kind of in a rush,” Kate Milligan said awkwardly, rummaging through her purse. “So if you don’t mind-I know it’s before opening, but my supervisor is having me coming earlier toda--”

“It’s no problem, Miss Milligan,” Lucifer said, interrupting her. “Adam’s not going to be any trouble.”

Kate smiled. “Thank you, really.” She bent down, kissed her son goodbye and promised she’d be back to pick him on time, and left.

“You ready to go inside, Adam?” Michael asked, picking the boy up and smiling at him.

Adam nodded eagerly. “I‘s coo’d , Mi’cha!”

“Yeah,” Michael nodded. “It’s only been a couple months and I already miss summer.”

Adam nodded in agreement, bobbing his head up down quickly and grinning widely.

Lucifer pushes open the door, and holds it open for Michael and Adam with a sweeping bow and a trademark smirk. Adam giggles happily at Lucifer’s joke, and Michael rolls his eyes. With his free hand, the older brother locates the light switch and watches as the cheap, white bulbs flicker to life. The colorful room is flooded with light, illuminating pillowy reading nooks, cubbies full of toys, and shelves full of colorful picture books. On one side of the room, a small, pastel-colored kitchen was divided by a swinging door and a large painted counter so you could always see what the kids were doing. In the other corner were the restrooms, which were almost always in need to of cleaning since Kevin was almost always throwing up in them.

“The other kids will be here soon, alright, Adam?” Michael said, setting the boy down and watching him run to the toys.

“O’tay!”

Lucifer snickered as he passed his older brother. “Mi’cha, would you pweety pwease sign Adam in twoday?”

“Sure thing, Luci.” Michael growled, glaring at his younger brother. Lucifer held his tongue and retreated to the little kitchen. It was little Sammy who’d given Lucifer the nickname, deciding Lucian was just too long, and there was nothing Lucifer hated more in the world.

Michael waited patiently for the dinosaur of a computer as it slowly hummed to life. The machine had taken multiple beatings throughout it’s lifetime, but it was still going strong and keeping the daycare in check. Micheal clicked on the small box next to “Milligan, Adam” and watched as a little check mark appeared. He couldn’t help but notice, as he always did, that Adam had a nigh-perfect attendance record. Tiny checks in an unwavering column all the way up the screen, and beyond, if Michael scrolled. Lucifer always commented that they didn’t know why they bothered checking him out. Kate was a busy woman, he knew, and it wasn’t like Adam was neglected, Michael just found their situation... a little sad.

Lucifer emerged from the orderly little kitchen. “Cocoa!”

“We weren’t out there that long, Lucian...” Michael said, remembering to switch his brother’s professional name. During a rebellious teenage phase, one that had never really died, his brother had chosen to go by Lucifer instead of his birth name Lucian in a desperate grab for attention. The name stuck, given his hellish nature, and now it was simply second-nature to call him that, despite the fact that Michael hated it. But, no one trusts their kids in the hands of anyone who calls themselves “Lucifer,” so while the daycare’s lights were on, Lucian it was.

“It’s never a bad time for chocolate, Mikey.”

“Yeah!” Adam parroted. “Nev’ah a bad time fo’ cho’a’late, Mikey!”

Michael rolled his eyes.

“Careful,” Lucifer said, handing Adam his hot chocolate. “It’s hot.”

Lucifer offered a steaming mug to Michael, who snatched it up reluctantly, watching little Adam cautiously sip his own.

“The other kids will be here soon, Adam.”

\-----

As predicted, within half an hour the other children began to appear. As usual, Linda and Kevin Tran arrived on the dot, the minute they were officially open. They were always punctual when they visited. Lucifer called it eerie, Michael called it responsible.

“Kevin!” Adam squealed, pounce-greeting the other boy.

“A-Adam!” Kevin said with a small smile, wiggling away from his friend’s affectionate greeting.

The boys had taken to each other within the first week of Kevin’s enrollment in the daycare. They were obvious best friends, though neither Lucifer or Michael was quite sure how the slightly neurotic Kevin felt about all of Adam’s energy.

Almost all the rest of the children arrived soon after, Lucifer taking coats and hanging them up as the children squealed joyously at the sight of their playmates.

“Yes, Ellen, your check arrived the other day, Jo’s all paid for--Garth, wait, let me take your hat--Oh, good morning, Anna!” Lucifer said, trying to keep up with the children and parents coming through the door. Michael snickered, calmly taking checks from the parents and checking off the little boxes next to names.

The room was quickly filled with giggles and activity, children retrieving board games and toys and laughing loudly with their friends.

“Lucian!” Meg belted, running at him with all her might and clinging to his leg. Meg always liked Lucifer, in her own special way. Though Meg's special way involved a lot of licking, biting, throwing, and clinging.

“Ah, there you are Meggy. I was wondering when you’d get here.”

“My name’s not _Meggy_!” Meg shrieked, biting his leg.

“Okay, _okay_!!” Lucifer shouted, laughing despite wincing in pain. “Meg! You’re Meg! You win this round!!”

“I always win, Lucian!” Meg countered, staying clung to Lucifer’s leg. “And don’t you forget it!”

Lucifer responded by attempting to peel the child off his leg. Finding that route was a dead end, Lucifer flailed his leg as much he could, thinking maybe he could shake the parasitic child off. Meg squealed in delight.

“Will you get _off_?!”

“No!” Meg cried happily.

Michael tsked and let his eyes wander back to list, scanning it carefully.

Ash and Jo were both dropped off by Ellen a moment ago, Meg was playing with Lucifer, and had been dropped off with a fat check to replace the toys she broke last week, Charlie was coloring, Becky and Garth were buried somewhere in the fluffy pillow pile, Adam and Kevin were attempting a sizable puzzle, Ruby was rummaging through the cubbies, Anna was still giddily greeting every child in turn, as she did every morning, and that left...

Michael sighed. “They’re late again.”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Mikey,” Lucifer said flatly, still trying to pry Meg off of him. “They’re always late.”

“I’m surprised anyone could come this often and still have such a sporadic arrival time.”

The Winchesters were not Michael’s favorite family. They were loud, disruptive, and full of energy, but most of all, he hated their father. The father whose payments were long overdue, the father who either dropped his kids off alone long before Michael and Lucifer got there or arrived in the middle of everything and threw off the schedule, and most importantly the father who very openly scolded his sons, scaring the other kids and parents. Michael always found it a very cruel thing to do, and despite him having told John not to, John has done it on three occasions.

Michael’s cleared his head of the angry thoughts and watched over the room. Lucifer had moved on from coats, and was focusing on supervising the construction of a dangerously high block tower, the brainchild of their very own engineer, Ash. The little architect had to stand on one of the chairs to get the blocks to the top, and it looked like soon Lucifer would have to lift him up to finish it.

It was obvious by the look on his face Lucifer was amazed at the rowdy child’s skill. Michael was too. The structure didn’t even wobble as Ash continued to carefully pile blocks. Jo was asking if she could knock it down when he was done, but Ash was very adamant about the safe-keeping of his creation.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a eardrum-destroying shriek pierced the peaceful room. Little Garth let out as not-so-little scream from the pillow pile.

“What’s the matter?!” Lucifer and Michael asked in unison, both running to his aid. 

It took quite a while to calm Garth enough to get an answer out of the awkward child.

“M-M-M-Mist-Mister F-F-Fi-Fi- _Fizzles_!” The child wailed at the top of his tiny lungs. The brothers exchanged glances. Mister Fizzles? The _sock_?

Mister Fizzles was Garth’s “best friend,” according to Garth. He had come with Garth on the first day and every day after, to the point where everyone would probably be worried if Garth suddenly showed up without the little battered sock puppet.

“Wh-where’s Mister Fizzles, Garth?” Michael asked tenderly, wiping the child’s tears away. He noticed the room behind him had gone silent, nine pairs of eyes watching anxiously as the scene played out in front of them.

Garth shook his head. “H-h-he’s l-LOST!”

“Where’d you last have him?” Lucifer asked, exchanging nervous glances with Michael.

“Ri-right _HERE_!” Garth screamed. “H-he w-was ri-ri-right here, and now he’s l- _LOST_!!”

“No, no, no,” Lucifer trembled with a forced smile. “We’ll find him! Won’t we, Mikey?”

Michael nodded eagerly, plucking the sobbing Garth up from the pillow pile and shushing him softly. “Luci, you look for Mister Fizzles!” Michael demanded in a very serious tone, as if this was the most important and dignified order he would ever give in his life. “Garth, how about you come with me? I have a surprise for you.”

“B-but...” Garth stammered. “...M-Mister--”

“Mr. Lucian’s gonna find him for you, okay? I’m sure Mister Fizzles is just a little mixed-up, alright? He’ll be happy to see you when Mr. Lucian finds him!”

Garth’s lip quivered, but he reluctantly nodded.

Lucifer gave Michael the look of one who _really_ does not want to root through a pillow pile for a dirt sock, but Michael hushed his silent protests witha glare as he began leading Garth away. Lucifer sighed and began rummaging through the pile of blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals. The kid was attached to a sock. A SOCK. Lucifer will never fully understand children. He tosses an oversized plush giraffe off behind him, hearing a small shriek as it whizzes past what sounds like Kevin and a loud squeak as the plush hits the cubbies behind him.

_Where the_ fuck _was this stupid--_

Lucifer looked up, inspecting the room, his hands on his hips. The usual cackling that filled the room when such catastrophe stuck was absent.

Michael and Garth were in the kitchen, probably calming Garth down with some sort of sweet, but almost everyone else is anxiously staring at Lucifer.

Almost everyone.

“Meg!” Lucifer barked, making a few of the kids jump. “Ruby!”

A moment’s hesitation before two dark-haired girls poke out from different corners of the room. Ruby from behind the cubbies, Meg from under the art table.

“Yes, Mister Lucian?” They ask in unison.

“Where is it, you two?”

“Why would we know where it is?” Ruby sassed, crossing her arms and turning up her nose. Lucifer knew damn-well why. Ruby and Meg were best friends. Partners in crime. Garth had been the one to tell on Meg for breaking toys last week. Obviously, this was their own three-year-old vengeance.

“Girls,” Lucifer said, more demanding. “Where’s Mister Fizzles?”

\-----

Lucifer strutted victoriously into the kitchenette, Mister Fizzles in one hand.

“Ruby and Meg?” Michael asked, having overheard the conversation despite a loudly sobbing Garth.

“Who else?” Lucifer said. “Garth wouldn’t just lose Mister Fizzles, would he?

“M-Mister Fizzles!” Garth shrieked happily, reuniting with the precious toy.

“Where was he?” Michael asked, patting a happy Garth’s head.

“Hidden in the cubbies, under all the doll clothes,” Lucifer explained. “They’re in time-out. ‘Staying inside during yard time, on top of it. Told ‘em they’d have to apologize to Garth.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Those girls, I swear...” His attention turned back to Garth. “Are you okay now, buddy?”

Garth nodded happily, brushing cookie crumbs off his face.

Michael took Garth by the hand and lead him back into the room. Activity was slow to start again, as usual after such a scene. Everything was awkward.

"Garth!" Becky cried, running to her friend. "It was Meg! It was Ruby, too! They stole Mister Fizzles!"

Garth nodded knowingly. "Mr. Lucian told me."

"Is Mister Fizzles okay?" She asked, leading him away. "They didn't hurt him, did they?"

Just as things were turning to normal, the small bell over the front door rang.

“Late, late, late...” Michael tsked, leaving Lucifer in charge of the kids so he could attend to their newest guests.

The Winchesters had arrived.

\-----

Michael helped Sam and Dean out of their coats, (well, he helped Sam, Dean considered himself much too independent for help) while Lucifer waited rather impatiently for the battered computer to come to life and let him sign in the Winchesters. Michael was still fuming from his short exchange with John.

“Sam!” Becky called, as soon as they left the coat closet. Becky had very quickly taken to Sam, though whether or not the boy return the feelings was up for debate. He didn’t seem to mind her presence, but he didn’t seem to particularly enjoy it either.

“‘Morning, Becky.”

Lucifer smiled at his favorite child as Sam and Becky passed by him. Lucifer loved the Winchesters spunk, Sam especially. “Yo, Mikey,” he said, strolling up to his brother. “You putting snack together today, or do you need a minute from being in the overwhelming presence of the Winchester bastard?”

“Don’t talk like that!” Michael scolded, his voice a stern, hissing whisper. None of the kids had actually heard, but Michael wasn't know for letting Lucifer off the hook too easy. “There are kids present!”

“There are?” Lucifer said, slapping his hands on his cheeks in mock surprise. “I had no idea!”

“...Go make the snack, you idiot.”

Lucifer smirked, but walked off towards the little kitchen to prepare some food.

\-----

Snack went about eventfully as it usually did.

“Dean, eat your graham crackers, don’t just crush them!”

“It’s just a spill, Becky, it’s fine. Just more careful next time--No, Garth, do not lick it!!”

“Ruby, let Sam eat in peace!”

“Put the book down, Kevin, we’re eating.”

“Charlie, come back to the table, honey!”

“Ash, stop throwing that!!”

After the snack was half consumed and half destroyed, the children were once again allowed to turn loose into the playroom while their caretakers took care of their food mess. Sweeping, wiping, more sweeping, the like.

Michael and Lucifer finished their tidying and took a quick sweep of the room. It was getting late into the day, almost time.

Lucifer found Charlie and Becky at the art table, swapping stories and giggling. Neither girl would let him see what they were drawing.

Michael watched as Kevin and Adam set to building some sort of overly complex LEGO creation, marveling at the two children’s tiny minds.

Lucifer tried to coax Sam into playing with the other kids and not just Dean. Sam was not having it, rolling his eyes at Lucifer’s attempts. Dean was unenthusiastic about sharing his little brother as well.

Michael passed by a riveting game of Chutes and Ladders with Jo, Anna, Meg, and Ash, letting out a relieved sigh at the sight of a game Meg couldn't cheat at. Last week's Candy Land incident was a brutal battle indeed. Ellen was very unhappy with Jo's new black eye, no matter how proud the child was of it.

Eventually the time came.

Michael exchanges glances with his brother, nodding pointedly at the clock. A grin came across Lucifer's face. It was his favorite time of day.

"Alright everyone!" Lucifer said, standing up and clapping his hands together. Every head in the room turned to see the announcement being made. " _Nap time_!!"

All at once, the daycare exploded.

" ** _IDON’TWANNATAKEANAPIWANNAKEEPPLAYINGCANWEFINISHOURGAMEBUTWEDON’TWANNAPUTTHETOYSAWAYGARTHALWAYSSNORESNOIDON’TMICHAELCAN’TWEPLAYLONGERPLEASEI’MNOTEVENTIREDIDON’TWANNANAAAP_** "

The unintelligible screaming of twelve children was too much for Michael.

“Hush!” He commanded loudly, his brow furrowed. Seeing level-headed Michael like this was always strange to them, and they obeyed without complaint, their eyes wide. “Now, come on, line up, kids.”

Muttering, kicking at imaginary pebbles, and glaring at their caretakers, the kids form a disobedient line to retrieve their mats, blankets, and various plushies.

“Here you go, Adam--Hey, no cutting, Meg!” Michael said, passing out cuddly toys. “Yes, here’s your doll, Anna. Just one second, Kevin, lemme find yours!”

“No cutting, Dean! I’m getting yours, Garth, be patient...” Lucifer said, handing Jo a blanket. It was always a big deal getting the kids ready for nap time. Lucifer was convinced they made it hard on purpose because they wanted to play more.

The children filed off, in pairs or trios, to find somewhere to set up their beds. Dean and Sam were, of course, together. Adam, Kevin, and Jo took over the space by the reading area. Ruby has snatched up Anna for her and Meg's sleeping buddy. Ash had found a comfy place under the art table, which Garth was now attempting to infiltrate, much to Ash’s annoyance. Becky and Charlie were whispering quietly as far away from Michael and Lucifer as they could possibly be. Soon enough, the whispering ceased, replaced with soft, sleepy breaths. The room was completely hushed.

“You did good, Mama Michael.” Lucifer smirked, crossing his arms over his chest, watching his brother survey the room like a doting mother hen.

Michael shushed his brother, but couldn’t help the feeling of pride that swelled in his chest. Another successful day, another quiet nap time. Michael was a good mama indeed.

“And no one even threw up today.”

“Please, Luci,” Michael said, stubbornly keeping his smile on his face. “Let me enjoy this.”


End file.
